Materials and Methods and A Series of Common Mistakes MOGO Online Course - Academic Writing Series Should be clear, simple, and repeatable. Failed plans and mistakes Months of refinement Hours of experiments Lecture Contents Purpose of Methods Common Content and Layout Ethics and Safety A Series of Common Mistakes Lists Units Commas When to Write the Methods Section Plan Research Create Hypothesis Perform Research Analyze Results Write: Materials and Methods Write: Introduction Write: Results Discussion Conclusions (Some) Common Subsections (for Chemistry and Engineering) 1.Materials the chemicals, organisms or other “ingredients” used in your study 2.Equipment the tools used to make measurements or setup your experiments 3.Data Analysis the software and analysis procedures used to analyze your data This is HIGHLY dependent on your field of study. Layout Check journal formatting After introduction, at end of paper, or in a supplemental document? Use numbered sections and subsections Any Impact factor level Full Paper format After Intro Very high impact Full paper format At End High Impact Communication (short) format In supplemental Ethics Ethically Readers should be able to reproduce your work by following your methods Dont leave out secrets Do be thorough Any data manipulation (e.g., filtering or smoothing) should be indicated You must cite the sources of your inspiration Safety Regarding safety Give readers a warning about dangerous chemicals or processes that you use Warnings should be based on information from safety data sheets (SDS, aka: MSDS) Dangerous Chemicals: “CAUTION: piranha solutions are extremely corrosive, reactive, and potentially explosive. Handle in fume hood and use appropriate protective equipment.” General Advice based on Common Mistakes Commas and Writing in full sentences Anatomy of a sentence The reaction transformed the compound rapidly. subject verb direct object adverb Each sentence must stand alone (END WITH PERIOD). Do not combine sentences with commas UNLESS you are using “and” or “but” reaction transformed compound SENTENCE DIAGRAM Make your lists parallel (e.g., all nouns or verbs) Place a comma between items in a list Use “and” (or “or”) before the last item in the list Use the Oxford comma to be as clear as possible The Oxford comma “The sample was mixed, stirred, , and heated.” Lists and the Oxford comma “ rinsed with acetone, isopropanol, and water.” “ rinsed with acetone, isopropanol, and dried.” RE: List. How to use “Respectively” “Respectively” is used to link items in two lists and is a source of much confusion Wrong: “Samples were maintained at 15 15 C C, 25 25 C C, and 30 30 C C, respectivelyrespectively” Correct: “Samples A A, B B, and C C were held at 15 15 C C, 25 25 C C, and 30 30 C C, respectivelyrespectively” ? Symbols Degree symbols are a huge source of confusion Wrong: Superscripted “o” or “0” (10 oC) A single symbol that has the degree symbol and C (10 ) The degree symbol attached to the number (10 C) Right: The degree symbol (U+00B0) (10 C) se the same font as main text whenever possible How to type “” On PCs - hold down the Alt key and on the numeric keypad on the right of the keyboard, type 0176. When you release the Alt Key, a should be there. On Macs - option shift 8. Ranges of values and the “en dash” Two main word combinations are used in English to express ranges of values. 1. “from x to y” 2.“between x and y” Ranges can be expressed using an en dash () instead of a hyphen (-) “in the range of 2 nm20 nm” How to type en dash“” On PCs - hold down the Alt key and on the numeric keypad on the right of the keyboard, type 0150. When you release the Alt Key, a “”should be there. On Macs - option minus. Equations Read and follow the journals formatting guidelines. Generally, 1.Use a professional formatting tool (e.g., Math Type in MS Word) 2.Place equations on a separate line 3.Number equations as they appear in the text 4.Follow equations with the definitions of any previously undefined symbols Example: “Energy, E, is given by = 2 (1) where m is mass and c is the speed of light.” Unit Formatting and Spaces There are two popular ways to display units mg/mL mg mL-1 Always use a space between values and units Except for % and (angle) Lists items should contain units “5 V, 10 V, and 15 V” Abbreviations Many abbreviations for chemicals and experimental setups are introduced in Materials and Methods “.with scanning electron microscopy (SEM)” These abbreviations need to Make sense grammatically (act only as noun, verb, or adjective) Represent only one thing (SEM is not both a technique (microscopy) and a tool (microscope) Be only defined once Company Names and Info DONT use “ ” or “” DO provide the same information for each vendor Wrong: “Chemical x (A A- -Plus Chemic